Since the 1960s, automated interactive voice response (IVR) systems have been developed and are now widely employed by organizations and companies to direct calls coming in to the organization. The typical IVR system plays a pre-programmed greeting that presents options to the user, such as “Welcome to Conglomorate Industries. Press or say 1 for customer service, 2 for technical support,” . . . etc., and then waits for a response from the user. User input can be provided from entering a number on the phone, which triggers the generation of a touch tone (dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling) signal, or by speaking the response. The IVR system then attempts to recognize the input, and switch the call to the designated destination.
Often, the destination will again have a pre-programmed IVR response, such as “Welcome to Conglomorate customer service. Press or say 1 for computer products, 2 for telephone products, . . . ” etc. and the user again must enter or say an option. This third destination may yet again have a pre-recorded IVR response, which may even lead to a fourth destination with a pre-programmed IVR response.
FIG. 1 illustrates the options presented in a phone tree for a representative IVR system, in this case, that of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The Top Tier 001 represents dialing the 800 number (1-800-375-5283). The 1st Tier of options 011 represents the two options that are presented once the system at the USCIS answers the phone call, namely an option for proceeding in English or in Spanish. Once the user selects one of these options (which, for the purpose of this illustration, will be assumed to be in English), the 2nd Tier 021 represents the seven options that are presented once the language selection has been made. Likewise, once the user selects one of these 2nd Tier 021 options, various 3rd Tier 031 options are available, and upon selecting one of these 3rd Tier options, various 4th Tier 041 options may be available, depending on the selection, etc.
When a caller wishes to interact with the USCIS, the caller would typically dial 1-800-375-5283, wait for the reply, then press 1 (or 2), then wait for a reply, then press the next response, etc.
When an IVR system works well, it can direct the caller quickly to the destination desired, while saving costs for companies and organizations by allowing them to employ fewer human operators while still “handling” large call volumes. IVR systems are now a business service sector with revenues of almost $2B annually, and several companies provide software and services to run and manage IVR systems, including: Avaya of Santa Clara, Calif.<http://www.avaya.com/usa/>, Cicso Systems of San Jose, Calif. <http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/custcosw/ps3651/>, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories of Daly City, Calif.<http://www.genesyslab.com/>, Nuance Communications of Burlington, Mass. <http://www.nuance.com/index.htm >, Verint of Melville, N.Y. <http://www.verint.com/>, and Voxeo products <http://voxeo.com/> offered by Aspect Software Group of Chelmsford, Mass.
Unfortunately, complex IVR systems can often lead to time wasted by the user trying to navigate the tree to find the answer to a simple question. This often leads to frustration on the part of the user. Users may have inadvertently pressed the wrong key on the phone keypad, finding themselves at a destination they did not want or even recognize, with no option to go “back” in the tree to try again. Or, the IVR system may have misunderstand a voice response, due to a noisy phone connection, a user's unexpected accent or use of unusual phrasing (such as saying “Sure” or “OK” instead of “Yes”) or simply poor voice recognition algorithms. In such a situation, the IVR system has again directed the user to a destination that is unknown or unwanted. The IVR system may also be giving instructions in a language that is not well understood by the caller—the caller may wish to contact a company or agency about a topic that they are able to competently discuss, but must listen to often long descriptions of topics they may not understood and therefore find additionally confusing.
Some IVR systems have grown more sophisticated, becoming more capable of recognizing the wide variation possible in user input. However, problems remain, deterring users who have had bad experiences with an organization's IVR system. Online directories, such as provided by Gethuman.com <http://gethuman.com/> or Whatis.com <http://whatis.techtarget.com/reference/Bypass-IVRS-Talk-to-a-real-person-cheatsheet> have appeared to help users bypass IVR systems altogether.
Although some companies may “hide” behind confusing IVR phone trees to avoid dealing with dissatisfied customers, many organizations deploying IVR systems, such as government agencies, legitimately want to provide service to as many callers as possible, but have budget limitations on the number of employees or call centers they can pay to answer phones. There is therefore a need for a system that can help guide users through the phone trees of an IVR system quickly and efficiently.